Any fan of Rex Stout's books about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin knows that - as a general rule - Mr. Wolfe refuses to leave his home on business. But there are exceptions. One of those exceptions saw Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin actually leave the United States for a long (and, especially for Wolfe, uncomfortable) journey to Montenegro, in the heart of Europe, thousands of miles from home. It's a story of promises kept, and a story of great personal loss for Nero Wolfe. It's the story told in Rex Stout's 1954 novel The Black Mountain, and that book is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast. You're welcome to listen to the complete audio review by clicking here.
Marko Vukcic was Nero Wolfe's oldest and closest friend. The two had been boys together, growing up in Montenegro. Wolfe eventually came to New York City; so did Marko, who owned and ran Rusterman's, the only restaurant that Nero Wolfe would visit once a month for dinner - and Marko, in turn, would visit Wolfe's brownstone monthly to enjoy one of Fritz Brenner's excellent dinners with Wolfe and Archie.
And then one Thursday evening in March of 1954, Marko Vukcic was murdered – shot three times by someone who had been sitting in a parked car outside the New York apartment building where Marko lived.
The job of finding his killer was a debt of honor, a promise to be kept by Nero Wolfe. And that is why Wolfe and Archie Goodwin left New York behind and traveled all the way to Montenegro – where, they were told, Marko’s killer had fled – with the goal of bringing him back to face justice, dead or alive. And in doing so, Wolfe would face another very personal loss…
Most of the Nero Wolfe books fall into the traditional detective story mold, with the emphasis on the detective's skills and the characters of some of the 35th Street regulars. The Black Mountain is different, falling more into the international action-adventure category. It's the only one of the Wolfe books where Goodwin and Wolfe reverse their usual roles - Archie doesn't speak the language, so Wolfe must brief Archie rather than the normal situation in which Archie gathers information and briefs Wolfe on his investigations. What you have in The Black Mountain, in my opinion, is a book that should not be missed by any Wolfe fan. Unfortunately, the last time I checked, it appears to be out of print in paper; there is an e-book version available as well as a couple of audiobooks. It's worth the effort to find and read The Black Mountain.
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